Exact estimated rates and 95% confidence intervals for estimates are provided later in the profile.

The Structure of the Education System in Bolivia

Percent Out of

School

3%

Number Out of

School

57,000 Source: Demographic and Health

Survey (DHS) 2008

Out of School Children of the

Population Ages 7-14

Bolivia

Bolivia has a 8-2-2 formal education structure. Primary school has an official entry age of six and a duration of eight grades.

Secondary school is divided into two cycles: lower secondary consists of grades 9 - 10 and upper secondary consists of grades 11 - 12.

In principle, primary school is free, though primary and secondary are compulsory. (UNESCO IBE, World Data on Education. 7th

Edition, 2010-2011. 4/2010).

Comparison of Rates of Out of School Children Ages 7-14 across Bolivia

The Latin American and Caribbean countries compared above represent the countries in the region that are part of the Out of School Children

profile series.

3

25

3

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Haiti (2005) Peru (2008) Bolivia (2008)

%

Comparison of Rates of Out of School Children According to the Most Recent Household Survey, Ages 7-14, Latin America and the Caribbean

Bolivia

Out of School Children by Individual and Household Characteristics

About Data Sources

● For Bolivia, the greatest disparity in out of school rates is

between children from the poorest and richest quintiles. Children

from the poorest quintile are 6.2 times as likely to be out of

school as children from the richest quintile.

● Parity indices provide information about the greatest sources

of inequality in a population. The graph at left provides ratios of

different estimates of children aged 7-14 who are out of school. It

shows, for example, that the out of school rate in rural areas is

3.2 times higher than that in urban areas.

● Out of school rates are highest for children in the poorest

wealth quintile (7%).

All out of school estimates presented in this profile are EPDC extractions of Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) data. DHS Surveys

are conducted every several years and collect information on health, education, and other topics for households and individuals

residing in those households. The 2008 Bolivia DHS Survey is representative at the national and subnational level. For more

information, please see http://www.measuredhs.com/.

Estimates of out of school children from household surveys can be expected to differ from administrative estimates, such as those

from the UNESCO Institute for Statistics and national government agencies, because of differences between these sources in data

collection and estimation methods for measuring school participation. For more information on the differences between these data

sources, please see www.epdc.org.

● Out of school rates for children from rural areas (5%) are

higher than those for children from urban areas (2%). In terms

of absolute numbers, there are more children out of school in

rural areas (41,178) than in urban areas (15,434).

● More girls (4% or 31,702) are out of school than boys (2.7%

or 24,911) in Bolivia.

1.3

3.2

6.2

3.1

parity

0.0

1.0

2.0

3.0

4.0

5.0

6.0

7.0

Parity Indices

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

Rates of Out of School Children (%), with 95% Confidence Intervals, DHS 2008

Overall: 56,613

Female: 31,702 Male: 24,911

Quintile 1 (Poorest) 29,388

Q2 12,578

Q3 6,510

Q4 5,157

Q5 2,979

Rural: 41,178 Urban: 15,434

Numbers of Out of School Children, DHS 2008

Out of School Children by Subnational Regions

● The subnational region with the highest percentage of children out of school is Chuquisaca (5%). Oruro has the lowest rate of

school non-participation (2%).

● The highest numbers of out of school children are located in Cochabamba (14,246). Pando has the lowest numbers of out of school

children (223).

EPDC presents data for ages 7-14. This age group captures the

bulk of basic compulsory education in most countries, aids cross-

national comparability of estimates, and conveys the normative

international frameworks set by the Convention on the Rights of

the Child and supported by the ILO Minimum Age Convention.

Why Ages 7-14?

0

20

Chuquisaca Tarija Potosí Cochabamba Beni Santa Cruz Pando La Paz Oruro

Rates of Out of School Children by Subnational Region (%), with 95% Confidence Intervals, DHS 2008

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

Chuquisaca Tarija Potosí Cochabamba Beni Santa Cruz Pando La Paz Oruro

Numbers of Out of School Children by Subnational Region (# in thousands), with 95% Confidence Intervals, DHS 2008

Out of School Rates by Age and Sex

● At age 15, 14% of girls and 15% of boys are out of school.

● School participation is highest for girls at age 8 and for boys at age 9.

● The official primary school entry age in Bolivia is age 6. At that age, 10% of girls and 10% of boys are out of school.

Summary of EPDC Methodology on Measuring Out of School Children

In this profile, EPDC presents estimates of the proportion and number of out of school children of the population ages 7-14 using household survey data. Along with relative and absolute estimates of out of school children, EPDC provides 95% confidence intervals for each estimate. To create estimates of the proportion of out of school children for a particular school year, EPDC used birthdate information to identify children who were of a particular age range (7-14) on the month that the school year began. Children who had attended primary school or higher at any time during the school year were classified as 'in school;' Children who had not attended school at any time during the school year, or who had attended pre-school during that reference period were classified as 'out of school.' The proportion of children who are out of school is calculated as the number of children within the 7-14 age range who were classified as out of school divided by the number of children within the same age range. To obtain the number of out of school children, the out-of-school rate is then applied to the estimated population of the same age range from the UN Population Division (EPDC obtained single-age population estimates to build the correct age range). UN Population Division figures are provided for mid-year each year, and EPDC uses the population figures from the year closest to the start of the school year in each country. Depending on a country’s main academic calendar, the population figure may be from the year before the school participation year.

For more information on measurement of out of school children, please see the EPDC website at www.epdc.org.

85

10

2 0 1 0 3 4

8 11

14

21

32

44

87

10

2 1 1 1 1 2 5

9

15 14

24

35

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18

Ages

Out of School Rates, by Age and Sex

Female

Male

%

National 3 48,312 64,913

SexFemale 3 26,266 37,137

Male 2 20,190 29,632

AreaRural 4 33,735 48,622

Urban 1 11,760 19,108

Relative WealthPoorest Quintile 6 22,449 36,327

Poorer Quintile 2 9,580 15,575

Middle Quintile 1 4,439 8,582

Richer Quintile 1 2,580 7,735

Richest Quintile 1 1,682 4,277

RegionsChuquisaca 4 4,678 8,181

Tarija 4 2,760 5,529

Potosí 2 4,716 14,476

Cochabamba 3 9,909 18,584

Beni 2 955 2,752

Santa Cruz 2 6,615 12,415

Pando 1 87 359

La Paz 1 5,543 12,336

Oruro 1 943 2,385

Estimated

proportion of

out of school

children of the

population ages

7-14 (%)

3

Upper limit of

95%

confidence

interval

Lower limit of

95%

confidence

interval

Lower limit of

95%

confidence

interval

EPDC Estimated Rates and Numbers of Out of School Children based on DHS 2008 Presented with 95% Confidence

Intervals

2

7

3

2

4

3

5

5

4

3

2

2

2

1

5

5

5

4

3

3

Estimated

number of out

of school

children of the

population ages

7-14 (#)

56,613

31,702

24,911

41,178

15,434

2

2

Upper limit of

95% confidence

interval

4

4

3

6

2

8

4

2

2

2

2

7

1,664

2,979

6,430

4,145

8,940

29,388

12,578

6,510

9,596

14,246

1,854

9,515

223

5,157

2

7

7